'Cambourne' isn't in Cornwall. This poster, a well-known Oracle on all things Cornish from 12,000 miles away in Canberra can't always be trusted to get her 'facts' right. 'Cambourne' is in Cambridgeshire. Nevertheless, we do have a 'Camborne', a Cornish word meaning 'crooked hill' in English, consisting of some 30,000 souls, some 6 miles from Hayle.

However, to return to the original poster's query, yes, there are Bashers still living in the area between Hayle and Helston consisting, as I recall of two generations (possibly three now) of the same family.

"Hen" said:
The on-line BT Phone book lists 3 Basher's residing in Helston, 1 in Newquay and 1 in Cambourne.

"Cambourne"???? Shame on you, Hen.

VandalBasher, in the mid-1800s there was a "Boadicea Basher" working as a domestic servant for the Forsaith family in Redruth, and I think another Boadicea Basher died in the 1900s, but I don't know the detailed family history.

The only member of the family whom I met was my great-uncle Randolph, the brother of my grandmother. I imagine this was 1970 or a touch before, in Hayle. My wife chuckles that I am related to "Randy Basher"... Not to mention the lovely Boadicea. Do either of these feature among your antecedents?

My grandfather's birth (Kenneth Basher) was also registered in Helston. Athough I think his family lived outside the town somewhere.

I found an old (12th century) law case from Somerset (?) that mentions the surname Basher and also uses the variant Boscher. This is on the web if anyone wants the link. Bosch is old Norman/Flemish for wood so it might have meant woodsman or forester. There is a place in South Wales called Bosherstown and various versions of the name are known in SE Ireland which was heavily settled by the Norman/Flemish. Of course it could also just have been a job title that got turned into a surname.

My family originates from the Bashers around Helston. My grandfather was borne there. We have a family bible with a family tree beginning with a marriage in 1776. We were always told that the ancestor of the Cornish Bashers was a Breton sailor shipwrecked at Basher's Harbour (or Cove as I was originally told) and that he was one of two brothers in the wreck to be rescued and he stayed and married a farmer's daughter some time in the 17th century. My Dad's cousin did try to trace the Breton origins years ago and thought that the name may have originated as something like Bassiere? I would really like to get information further back that 1776 if anyone can help, thanks.